


The Christmas Gift

by switchknitter



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Breaking Up & Making Up, Christmas, Ficlet, Hopeful Ending, M/M, Thor (Marvel) is a Good Bro, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, implied BDSM
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:48:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21868513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/switchknitter/pseuds/switchknitter
Summary: Tony has been missing Loki ever since they broke up.  He would have never guessed Loki feels the same.
Relationships: Loki/Tony Stark
Comments: 3
Kudos: 89





	The Christmas Gift

**Author's Note:**

> I'm feeling kind of down tonight, so I expressed my angst with a bit of fanfic. I hope it's okay, as I didn't use a beta.

It was almost Christmas, and Tony Stark couldn’t sleep. He had come to hate December. He’d never been a fan of Christmas, not with his parents being so distant in his childhood and then dead before his adult years. Christmas was a time for being lonely.

He thought that had changed when he’d started dating Pepper, but that hadn’t lasted long. She couldn’t handle Tony being Iron Man. Couldn’t handle his near-brushes with death.

Tony rolled over and pulled the blankets over his head. It wasn’t Pepper he was missing tonight.

It was Loki.

They’d only been together for eight months. Not boyfriends, not partners, not a couple. It was friends with kinky benefits, and it went horribly wrong when Tony fell in love. Loki hadn’t fallen back. The pain of it had nearly killed Tony, and Loki hadn’t spoken to him since the day Tony walked away.

It had been three days after Christmas, two years ago.

Tony still missed the fucker. It had taken more than a year before Tony could sleep on his right side again, because he’d always faced that way when Loki slept beside him.

He was still in love. And he hated himself for it.

He gave up on sleep, getting out of bed and pulling on sweatpants and a worn black tank top. Padding barefoot to the kitchen, he started the coffeemaker. His insomnia had been bad before Loki. It had come back after him, only now it was entwined with a heart-wrenching loneliness.

Tony sat down at the table and put his head in his hands, waiting for the coffee.

It was going to be another long night.

\---

It was Christmas Eve, and Tony was tipsy. He had plans for getting drunk off his ass, a glass of scotch keeping him company while he fiddled with a suit gauntlet. He had promised Rhodey, stationed somewhere in the Middle East, that he wouldn’t combine booze and explosives. For the moment, he was keeping his promise.

“Boss, Thor is on the balcony,” FRIDAY said.

“Dammit.” Tony ran fingers through his hair and took the elevator to the penthouse, drink in hand. The last thing he wanted was a reminder of--

Loki. Who was on the balcony with Thor.

 _Fuck_.

Thor knocked on the glass door, snow in his long blond hair. Loki, behind him, wore an unreadable expression.

“Should I let them in, Boss?”

Tony knocked back his scotch in one swallow. “Sure.”

“Friend Tony,” Thor said, oddly quiet. “How do you fare?”

“Fine,” Tony said tersely, not looking at Loki. He could feel his former dom’s eyes on him, but he wasn’t going to look. “What’s he doing here?”

“I wished to speak to you, Anthony.” God, that delicious voice, oh, how Tony had missed it.

Tony still didn’t look. “What’s up, Point Break? Come to defend your little brother in case I toss him out a window?”

Thor winced. “Nay.” He held out a hand. In his palm was a glowing silver ball, about the size of a marble, on a chain. “I came to offer you a gift.” Thor’s gaze was intense. “It allows the wearer to see lies. I have tried it out myself, and you have my oath that it functions.”

“Thanks, big guy, but I don’t need to see if anyone’s lying.” Tony cut his eyes at Loki, not long enough to really see him but enough to make his point.

“I think you do.” Thor took Tony’s hand and put the amulet in it, closing Tony’s fist around it. “Just listen.” Thor gave a small smile of reassurance, then went out the balcony doors. A rainbow light surrounded him, and he was gone.

Tony still couldn’t look at Loki. “What do you want?” he asked, purposefully keeping his eyes on the balcony.

“Put the amulet on, Anthony. Please.” Loki’s voice was almost pleading. Or maybe Tony was just wishing it did. Tony couldn’t be sure.

“Just leave, Loki. I can’t deal with you.”

“ _Please_.”

Loki’s plea sliced through Tony’s heart, but Tony tried to keep it from showing on his face. Instead, he sighed and fastened the chain around his neck. “FRIDAY, give me a countdown. Sixty seconds.”

“I will first demonstrate the amulet, so you believe me. A lie: my name is Thor.”

The amulet vibrated silently against Tony’s collarbone.

“Now, a truth: I miss you. Terribly.”

The pendant was still.

“Why should I care, Loki? It doesn’t matter if you miss me or not. All you wanted was someone to indulge your kinks.”

“I did. But after you told me to leave for the final time, I… I realized how much you meant to me. Too late, I know. But it is the truth.”

At that Tony turned to look Loki in the eyes. “And you didn’t bother coming back to tell me?”

Loki’s face was drawn, pale, and full of sorrow. “You told me I was hurting you. I thought you needed time.”

“You did hurt me,” Tony spat. “You hurt me because you told me you could never love me. God. I was such a fucking fool to hope you might change your mind.”

“I was scared. Anthony, you are mortal. Your life span is nothing to a god. How could I love someone who would be dead in a heartbeat?”

Tony scowled. “And now is different from then, how?”

“Because of this.” Loki crossed his hands, and he was suddenly holding a golden apple. “Because now I can offer you the same lifetime I have.” He sat it down on a small table next to the sofa. “I realize you don’t want me right now. But please, take this, even if you wish to never see me again. The universe is a better place for you being in it.”

Tony froze, speechless. He knew what that apple meant. Immortality. A future of inventing with no fear of old age, not for thousands of years. He could colonize Mars. Create androids. Build that flying car he’d always wanted to invent.

“You would give me that with no strings attached.” Tony couldn’t help but be skeptical.

“None. It is a gift. But I hope that, someday, you would consent to my courting you.”

Tony was silent for a long time, thinking. Part of him wanted to punch Loki in the face. Part of him wanted to fall into the god’s arms and weep. He didn’t do either. “How do you feel about me right now? Complete honesty.”

Loki winced, swallowed. “I… I have never been in love before, but I believe myself to be. With you.” He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them. “Being without you was painful.”

“For both of us,” Tony said softly. “I can’t trust you again. Not for a long time.”

“Will you give me the chance to earn your trust once more?”

Tony fiddled with the amulet nervously. “I’m willing to let you _try_. No promises.”

Loki didn’t smile, but his eyes lit up with hope. “That is all I can ask.”

The amulet buzzed. “Lie,” Tony said.

Loki’s lips quirked into a small smile. “It’s all I _will_ ask, then.”

Tony found himself wanting to smile back, just a little. “And I’m keeping this necklace.”

“It is yours, Anthony.”

Tony stepped over to the couch, sat down, and pointed at the chair across from him. “Sit. Tell me what you’ve been doing for the last two years.”

As Loki took his seat and began, Tony wondered if maybe this was the best Christmas present ever.

He could hope.

**Author's Note:**

> Anybody in North Central Florida looking for a submissive? Ahahahahaha... *sniffle*


End file.
